Solar powered pay stations

In the battle for sustainable energy practices, there are the big victories and the little ones. Often the small victories get ignored, taking a backseat to the attention grabbing headlines that promise massive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions or a new leading edge technology.

But in many ways, the small victories are just as important and relevant as the attention-grabbers. The commas that build towards the exclamation point.

Case in point: 8D Technologies’ solar-powered pay stations for Montreal’s city bicycle rental system. The solar-powered pay stations are a part of a pilot program that will serve as a “complement” to public transit and cars. Interesting yes, but in terms of energy savings, it’s not worth shouting from the rooftops.   

So why bother to take pay stations that really don’t swallow a lot of juice off the grid? Sure, it will save energy and money…but not that much. But solar power technology does offer the convenience of wireless operation, which is probably why dozens of municipalities from coast to coast use them. 

Green power is the wave of the future and if every municipality were to switch over all its seemingly minor applications, the net effect would be worth it.